Scrabble updates dictionary for 1st time 9 years, asks for help

Monday

Mar 17, 2014 at 12:01 AMMar 17, 2014 at 5:02 PM

Scrabble is updating its official dictionary and letting the public select one of the words on social media.

Natalie Crofts

SCRABBLEVILLE - Have you ever been caught trying to make up a word while playing Scrabble?
Now is your chance to make it legitimate by nominating the word for a spot in the official Scrabble dictionary. Hasbro announced it will be accepting nominations from fans until March 28.
"Over the past decade, changes in technology, trends and pop culture events have introduced many new words like 'selfie' and 'hashtag' into everyday vocabulary," a statement from the company reads. "To keep relevant for today's fans, Scrabble and Merriam-Webster will be updating 'The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary for the first time in nine years."
The company said it will be adding thousands of words to the dictionary, but one spot has been reserved for a special word selected by fans. Nominations can be made on its Facebook page.
One of the most popular nominees is currently "kwyjibo," a word Bart Simpson made up while playing Scrabble on "The Simpsons." Other candidates include "emoji" and "craycray." There have been more than 2,000 nominations made on the page so far.
The winning word will be determined by a Scrabble Word Showdown on the Hasbro Game Night Facebook page. Sixteen finalists will be selected from the nominations and put into a bracket on April 2 for fans to vote for their favorite to be the ultimate champion.
The winning word will grace the pages of the fifth edition of the Scrabble dictionary, which is scheduled to be released in August.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D154225%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E